Trailering with a full size suburban vs a 2500 GMC Denali
02-08-2013, 07:47 PM
#31
Racer
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Short memory, Long Island
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I'll chime in here - and make a bet that rstrahota here is correct.
If you start off towing with a Suburban, you probably don't know what you're missing and will think the Suburban tows great. But making a back-to-back step down from a 2500 DuraMax to a 1500 gas Suburban will be painful.
I used to tow a 28' steel enclosed trailer with my old '04.5 2500HD DuraMax, back when I used to race motorcycles (6+ years ago now). Whole setup (including the truck) was around 16k lbs. With the weight distribution and sway control, I didn't know the trailer was back there. The truck just didn't seem to care. 70mph through the Appalachians and Smoky's and the only peep I heard out of the truck was a little more turbo whistle.
Fast forward a few years - this past summer I rented a bare bones 18' open-air Featherlite and towed it (with my ~3,000lb 944 on it) with my 2007 Avalanche (which is pretty much the same thing as a Suburban) and while I'd say it definitely towed "fine" and was well within the limits of the truck - it was NOT as effortless as my old diesel was pulling 2x the weight. Hills in Wisconsin on my way up to Road America from Chicago, I had several instances where the truck had to dig down into 2nd gear to maintain 60-65.
It'll do it. It just won't be a lot of fun.
If you start off towing with a Suburban, you probably don't know what you're missing and will think the Suburban tows great. But making a back-to-back step down from a 2500 DuraMax to a 1500 gas Suburban will be painful.
I used to tow a 28' steel enclosed trailer with my old '04.5 2500HD DuraMax, back when I used to race motorcycles (6+ years ago now). Whole setup (including the truck) was around 16k lbs. With the weight distribution and sway control, I didn't know the trailer was back there. The truck just didn't seem to care. 70mph through the Appalachians and Smoky's and the only peep I heard out of the truck was a little more turbo whistle.
Fast forward a few years - this past summer I rented a bare bones 18' open-air Featherlite and towed it (with my ~3,000lb 944 on it) with my 2007 Avalanche (which is pretty much the same thing as a Suburban) and while I'd say it definitely towed "fine" and was well within the limits of the truck - it was NOT as effortless as my old diesel was pulling 2x the weight. Hills in Wisconsin on my way up to Road America from Chicago, I had several instances where the truck had to dig down into 2nd gear to maintain 60-65.
It'll do it. It just won't be a lot of fun.
02-08-2013, 08:07 PM
#32
I'm in....
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Just bought a 2013 2500 Suburban today. I've been towing both open and enclosed trailers with my 2002 1500 for the past 9 years and it worked fine but the 2500 is going to be a nice step up. If it was going to be dedicated to towing I would get a diesel but you can't get a better general purpose tow / kids, dog, and gear hauler.
